Shades of Red
by Chocolate2011
Summary: A new column in the papers has Jane bothered. And leads the team to a discussion about Red John.


Shades of Red:

"Something's not right." Said Cho.

"What's not right?" Asked Rigsby.

"The antonym of right would be wrong." Jane put in.

"Okay, so what's wrong?" Rigsby corrected himself.

"Jane's pacing." Cho observed.

"So?" Rigsby shrugged, oblivious.

"So, when was the last time you saw Jane pacing?" Said Cho.

Jane was pacing – up and down the length of his couch, stopping just short of Cho's desk.

"Er..." Rigsby was unsure of what to make of it.

"Have either of you read the paper today?" Lisbon asked casually as she came inside.

"Nope." Said Rigsby, looking at Cho.

"Why, is there a murder we should know about?" Asked Cho.

"You could say that." Lisbon laughed. Actually it wasn't a very funny matter at all but she had learned from Jane and found it easier to just laugh.

Van Pelt picked up a copy of the day's paper and read off the front page.

"Shades of Red?" She said, her tone rising at the end of the sentence.

"Actually it should be 'Hues of Red'." Jane added. "Red is a hue, not a shade."

"Okay, that journalist must be suicidal." Van Pelt commented as she read the column.

"My thoughts exactly." Said Jane, who had finally stopped pacing and sat down on his couch.

"So her grammar's not as good as Jane's. That's not a criminal offence." Said Rigsby.

"Yeah, but starting a daily column on a national paper focussed solely on Red John will get his attention." Lisbon pointed out.

"What kind of a person deliberately antagonises a serial killer?" Jane asked, thinking out loud.

"Well, you do." Said Cho.

"Okay, besides yours truly." Jane shook his head.

"They want attention." Van Pelt suggested.

"They've got it." Said Lisbon.

"No, I meant publicity. You know. They want people to take notice of them." Van Pelt clarified. "Well, they want more than just Red John to take notice of them."

"Yeah, rookie journoes will write about anything to make it into the big league." Cho agreed.

"Or, they could be a victim, like Jane is." Rigsby suggested.

"No, if they were a victim, they would go to the police." Said Jane. "How many victims are boasting about the worst day of their lives in the national media?"

"You remember that San..." Lisbon started.

"The San Joaquin Killer?" Van Pelt finished for her.

"Yeah, didn't he blog about himself?" Said Lisbon. "Maybe this is Red John talking about himself."

"Have you ever considered that this column might not be aimed at Red John at all?" Jane asked, looking around the room.

"No, maybe Red John has a brother or something." Lisbon replied, sarcastic.

"You mean like Pink Jimmy?" Said Rigsby.

"No, he means like himself." Said Cho as Rigsby stopped giggling.

"I suppose it's possible." Van Pelt allowed.

"It's more than just possible." Said Cho.

"It is a known fact that the best way to attract my attention is to throw Red John at me." Jane admitted.

"Okay, why would they want to attract your attention?" Asked Lisbon.

"Oh, my reputation precedes me." Jane mumbled.

"Please, don't flatter yourself." Lisbon rolled her eyes.

"Well, they're a journalist so they kind of want attention full stop." Rigsby tried his hand at mentalising the situation. "They want attention from you because... well, because you're the only one who's not scared of Red John."

"And that's relevant because..." Said Jane.

"If I were a journalist, I would want to know why." Said Rigsby.

"You wanna know why?" Jane was sarcastic now.

"Because he's got nothing to lose." Cho answered for him. "You're only scared if you've got something to lose."

"That's not true." Van Pelt objected. "Jane has heaps to lose. I know you lost your family but what about us?"

"We're cops." Lisbon pointed out. "It's our job to get involved with this sort of stuff."

"And what about all the other people who have been affected by Red John." Van Pelt continued. "Jane does care. I've seen him."

"Whether I care or not is irrelevant." Jane shook his head. "He's still out there and he's going to continue murdering people whether I care about it or not."

"Yeah but his targets aren't so random anymore." Said Van Pelt.

"That's true." Rigsby agreed. "Everyone he's killed recently has been as a reaction to something."

"Yeah usually something that Jane's said or done or caused to happen." Cho observed.

"Usually all of the above." Rigsby nodded.

"Great that makes me feel much better now." Jane raised an eyebrow.

"Look, it means that you've turned the tables on him already." Lisbon tried to calm him down.

"So what – I get to pick his targets now?" Jane was uneasy about this observation.

"No, but you've managed to change the game." Said Lisbon. "Since you've started on your little quest, you've always being reacting to what he does. Now it's the other way around. You've got him reacting to what you do."

"I don't want him to react Lisbon. I want him to..." This was one of the few times that the team had seen Jane lost for words.

"Do _you_ know what you want?" Lisbon began to wonder.

"I don't think it matters." Said Van Pelt.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Asked her boss.

"It's like Jane says." Van Pelt elaborated. "It doesn't matter what Jane wants. Red John will just keep doing what he's always done."

"Because he knows he'll always get the same reaction." Jane's smile had come back again. "That's it. Thank you Grace."

"So you're gonna what? Not react?" Lisbon asked, doubtful.

"You already tried that remember, you quit the CBI." Rigsby pointed out.

"That was a reaction." Jane admitted.

"Whatever you're thinking it's not going to work." Lisbon put in quickly because she could see that Jane was already scheming.

"It's like what you guys are saying. I have to stop reacting to Red John. I have to get him to react to me." Jane smiled again.

"See what you did?" Lisbon glared at the other agents.


End file.
